


A Uniform Response

by ProfessorFlimflam



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F, Uniforms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 06:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11549184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorFlimflam/pseuds/ProfessorFlimflam
Summary: Serena hasn’t worn a uniform since she left School. Bernie, on the other hand, thinks she might have spent more of her life in uniform than out of it.Somehow, the thought of Bernie in uniform hasn't occurred to Serena before - and then it really does occur to her...





	A Uniform Response

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 of Berena Appreciation Week, and we have the dynamic of Berena and uniforms, with a little bit of Berena / Jason thrown in for good measure. And just the slightest hint of our pre-series girls, as per the prompt.
> 
> All too safe for work, I'm afraid. Day 6 will be upon us before we know it, though... ;-)

Serena hasn’t worn a uniform since she left St Winifred’s School for Gifted Girls and Their Over-Ambitious Mothers. Seven years of knee-length A-line skirts and straw boaters, of all things, have left her with a lifelong aversion of being told what to wear, and she has always shied away from anything that might require it. No supermarket summer jobs, no St Johns or Red Cross, and dear god, no team sports, thank you very much. To this day, she will only change into her scrubs for theatre, and will be straight back into her own clothes as soon as she has cleaned up.

Her own clothes, of course, being invariably black trousers, a black vest, and a flowing blouse, usually bright, occasionally animal print, and, according to Jason, sometimes just horrible. It doesn’t occur to her that this is a uniform of a different sort, or if it does, she corrects herself - _It’s not a uniform, it's just my own personal style_.

Bernie, on the other hand, thinks she might have spent more of her life in uniform than out of it. A grey blazer and a dark red tie. A hockey strip in white and the same dark red. A Brownie uniform (the dress always too short for her long legs, the little cross-over tie loose around her scrawny neck). And camo and khaki as far as the eye can see: first in the Army Cadet Force, then the OTC while she was at med school, and finally the bloodstained, mud-spattered, sun-bleached cotton twill of combats on what for her, along with her fellow RAMC medics, had always been a very active duty. She had thought once that she might add the blue beret of a UN Peacekeeper to the collection, but that doesn’t seem likely now.

Even now that she has resigned her commission, she still likes to wear a uniform. First Keller burgundy, then the turquoise of AAU. And now scrubs that Jason informs her are nearly, but not quite, TARDIS blue. “ _Actual_ TARDIS blue,” he informs her “is Pantone 2955C. It’s got more grey in it than your scrubs. I could ask HR to see if they can source your scrubs in 2955C if you like?” Bernie tells him it’s kind of him to offer, but she’s got several pairs of the richer blue already, all with Trauma Consultant embroidered on them, so no-one else is going to wear them, and it would be a shame to waste them.

Serena eyes them fondly across the office, and when Jason gets back to work, she tells Bernie again how good she is with him.

Bernie shakes her head with one of her tiny smiles. “I have to admit, I rather like the idea of wearing TARDIS scrubs. Wish he’d said sooner.”

“Well, maybe you should enquire then - goodness knows you spend enough time in them, you might as well have something you like.” Serena is sort of teasing, sort of not. “Though why you don’t wear something more flattering from time to time, I don’t know. I mean, obviously, you're utterly delectable in anything you wear, but don't you get sick of them?”

Colouring up at the compliment, though not believing it for a moment, Bernie explains, ”Scrubs are so easy, though, aren't they? You never need to think about what you're going to wear in the morning; if someone pukes on you there's going to be another set hanging around - and I like looking as though I belong here,” she adds, a little bashfully.

“Of course you belong here! You don’t need a uniform for that.” Serena has a sudden moment of understanding. “Oh,” she breathes quietly, ”That’s it, isn’t it? Scrubs _are_ your uniform now. When did you last wear your own clothes on the job?”

Bernie’s a little embarrassed to be found out in what she thinks is probably foolishness, but considers the question, thinks back, unconsciously tapping out a count on the desk of all her postings, her previous jobs. Has to go further back than she thought.

“Paper round, I think,” she finally admits, sheepishly. “Though half the time I was probably in my ACF uniform on the way to or from something or other. I never had much other than khaki in my wardrobe.” She laughs at herself. “Haven't got much that isn’t black and white now. You're right, I'm a creature of habit.”

Serena is fiddling with something on her desk, some executive stress toy picked up at a conference.

“Do you ever… I mean, is it - that is, have you still got any of your khakis stashed away at home somewhere? I mean, I expect you miss it, don’t you, something that was so much a part of you? I know I’d want to keep it to try on for old time’s sake now and then, if I’d ever… oh, _Bernie_ , stop looking at me!”

For it is Serena who is hot and bothered now, if the deep flush sweeping across her cheeks, her neck her chest is anything to go by.

Bernie has indeed fixed her with a knowing look. “Uniform kink, is it? Well, well, you’re not the first. Sorry to disappoint you, but I ditched the lot when I moved - not much room for storage in my little flat, and it seemed like the right time to make a clean break.”

“No, of course, I can see that. And not a kink, thank you very much - I just never actually saw you in your uniform and I thought - oh, never mind. We’ll have to take you shopping, try and inject a bit of colour into your wardrobe!” She brightens her voice, tries valiantly to change the subject, but Bernie is very much on to her.

“I haven’t got the kit any more, but I could show you a few photos if you like? Though I have to warn you that combat gear really isn’t that flattering - everything’s so bulky. Some of the formal shots aren’t too bad though - the ones in my dress uniform…”

There is an audible gulp in the silence that follows.

“In your what?”

There is most definitely going to be a show and tell session tonight.


End file.
